Is there such a thing as a black thumb? Like, opposite if green thumb? Thats what I am. I just cant keep any plant or green thing alive. I’ve even killed grass. Twice. (Over fertilized and under watered, in case you are wondering).
So this year, Ive challenged myself to planting something and nurturing it. So I planted some herbs on the deck. I figured herbs would be a great place to start. The prospect of cooking with freshly harvested herbs from my planter, hopefully, is motivation enough to take care of them.
I’m already dreaming of what I will cook when the herbs are ready to pluck! Iced tea with that incredibly lemony smelling lemon balm….green pea and mint soup….lavender infused frosting on cupcakes…sandwiches with fresh homemade basil pesto…
…please herbs, stay alive for me…puhllleeeeezzzzeeee..
This is the end result of the afternoons labor…
But lets start at the beginning. We went to the garden center and selected some herbs. We laid them all out on our newly painted deck. Herbs, pots and potting soil.
These are the herbs we bought.
Please herbs…stay alive..
I started with the mint..
Mint went in the “ethical pot”….
Gardening is better with some coldstone icecream and tea. Come to think of it, everything is better with coldstone icecream! This one is chocolate icecreamwith brownies and raspberries mixed in.
S hangs the hanging pot on the deck rail…
In goes the potting soil…
Then I plant the herbs while S grudgingly takes pictures…
They look sooo pretty and my deck smells heavenly. Please herbs…just stay alive for me..
S, the good husband he is, cleans up my mess on the deck…
… and throws out old soil..
All done!
Do you have any tips for herb growing? I’m all ears! I could use all the help I can get to keep these guys alive!
VB, as long as you keep them pout of direct Sun and keep watered, they do very well in Summer. As soon as temp dives down, you must transfer most of then in the garage or in the house with min 60F in Winter. Balm Lemon survived whole winter outside and is now luxuriously green again. Red chard come up themselves also if you don’t pull out the roots. I make one whole post on my garden every year, check these out.
This year, I planted Pineapple Sage, Sweet Thai Basil, Lemon Thyme in addition what I had.
2007;
http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2006/08/my-summer-06-harvest.html
2007;
http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-2007-summer-harvest-with-dishes.html
2008;
http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-summer-harvest-2008-and-mixed.html
LOVED looking at your garden, good luck!
[Reply]
Lavender, thyme and rosemary are from Provence, which is super dry and sunny. They need to suffer to grow well.
Once rooted (in full sun), we never water our lavender, thyme or rosemary. Hope these grow well for you. Post us an update soon. Mariette
[Reply]
Gorgeous photos Sala. Loved every single one of them. I’m all ears too! I’ve already killed a basil plant this season, so I join you in praying for their long life. Need to buy some mint and thyme asap.
My fav combo at Coldstone is coffee icecream with brownies and strawberries
[Reply]
I wish I could give you some advice, but my thumbs are the same color yours are. When we landscaped our yard, our designer planted tons of sage, 6 thyme plants, chives, mint, 2 oregano plants, and 2 rosemary plants. All except the rosemary have done great in our climate and with very little help from me. I LOVE having the fresh herbs! Water and sunshine do wonders.
[Reply]
Good luck with your herbs! I confess to having a black thumb or lack of the green thumb altogether
[Reply]
such gorgeous pics! Im no expert in gardening..this year i have planted cilantro, parsley and rosemary along with some kale and peppers. Im planning to get some mint and lavender as well. Its been about a month now and they are still growing good! keeping my fingers crossed!
[Reply]
Good luck with your herbs! I love being able to snip fresh herbs from my yard. Can’t wait to see how you use all of yours.
[Reply]
Good luck with the plants. I’m going to plant my herbs and other plants this weekend. Have to see what color my thum’s gonna be this summer. Have a wonderful weekend.
[Reply]
I hope they stay alive! One of my goals is to have my own herb garden, but my current apt. gets no light. Good luck!
[Reply]
LOvely pics Sala..All of them gorgeous..:)All the best..:)
[Reply]
They look good so far:D Even your pot looks soooo good.. the blue one!
sending you green vibes:-)
[Reply]
There is definitely such a thing as a black thumb! Funny, I’m ALWAYS telling people I have one of them! I killed 2 cactus (yes, those things that hardly need any attention what-so-ever…dead as doorknobs
)
Good luck with your herbs! I’ll have my fingers crossed for you!
[Reply]
may i suggest something? plant the rosemary separately. it will grow and stay alive if you bring it indoors in winter.
[Reply]
Lovely pics…ALL the best..
[Reply]
I ve mint from 5 years, they invaded everywhere in summer! Keep it seperate too! Love ur pict!
[Reply]
Look at all those cute little herbs, I think little herbs and herb pots are so cute… Good luck!
[Reply]
those little herbs are so cute!
[Reply]
Dude, if I had a garden like that, I’d be crying tears of joy
We have NO space, and I mean it. Sigh.
[Reply]
Unfortunately, I only have experience killing herbs – but, I hope you will report back later with any tips that you’ve learned.
I haven’t tried Coldstone, but I recently discovered Hagen-Daz’s ginger ice cream, which is part of their “five ingredient” line. It is pretty darn addictive.
[Reply]
Beautiful,I’m sure you’ll take good care.I’m yet to start any pot gardening this year,I’ve a very naughty toddler who simply can’t keep his hands off of any indoor or outdoor plants,let alone keeping them alive for the whole season.
[Reply]
Hey, you’ve chosen some nice herbs.. Last time, i planted sweet basil, chives and mint and they all did quite well. I don’t have a green thumb per se but since these survived, i’ve been wanting to try more. Good luck with your herbs.. am sure they’ll thrive.
[Reply]
Yes, Rosemary and Lavender do well in full sun, however since your herbs are in pots on your back deck…just from experience…you will want to make sure they get part shade during the summer because literally they will roast on your deck from all sides since they are not in the ground. You should be okay until late June, then you might want to consider a larger pot and more shade and planting that Rosemary in full sun where it will thrive.
Trim them regularly, herbs love to be harvested and grow back thicker. Trim them back when you see them flowering. You will get a longer harvest if you postpone the flowering. Let them flower late summer just so they can have the joy of beautifying the world and going to seed. If they get to hot, herbs like Cilantro will “bolt”…i.e. grow long, leggy, and go to flower and seed faster than you can process what it is trying to do.
Mints take over and send out runners, so when you transplant later you might want the Lemon Balm and other mints to have their own pots so they don’t choke out the other herbs.
I think you will do a lovely job! If they need some feeding, herbs love fish emulsion. You can get it at Southern States. You dilute it in water. Smells gross, looks bad, does wonders for plants.
Best of luck!
[Reply]
Lovely pics…and really hope they grow well…I’ve got a few a few months back and so far, they are growing well…all the best with yours…
[Reply]
wonderful pictures… green green green.. good luck
[Reply]
OmG! How much I would love to have a herb garden of my own!
LOL
Sunlight and “green thumb” is a major problem though
[Reply]
Herbs are a great way to get into food gardening – or just gardening for that matter.
As one who has been kitchen gardening for a while (and is offering a “growing and cooking with herbs” workshop the week-end of Labor day) may I suggest that you move your herbs into larger containers as the plants grow? They look too tightly planted for good growing: they won’t have much room to expand. And while most herbs will indeed take – and prefer – full sun, in a pot, in summer, on a deck, I second prior recommendations to try to give them shade in the afternoon. And you probably will have to water twice a day when it’s really hot – again because they are in pots!
Have fun! There are many many ways to appreciate herbs. The first step is to plant them! so hooray for you, Sala!
[Reply]
i love all that:)
[Reply]
So Sala, how’s it going on now that you have moved?
Planted more herbs or …. killed them all?
I’m like you in this case – not because of over or under doing anything but simply because I either forget &/ I’m just extremely lazy.
And the only thing I ever had to take care was wheat grass to make juice at home everyday, that’s it! Sometimes I ask myself if it means anything – like, am I not capable of nurturing well? Hmm. Anyway…
[Reply]